Providing Pilgrims with Water and maintaining the Sacred Masjid are not equal to Faith and Jihad

In his Tafsir, Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas explained this Ayah: "The idolators said, `Maintaining Al-Masjid Al-Haram and providing water for pilgrims are better than embracing the faith and performing Jihad.' They used to boast and show off among the people because they claimed, they were the people and maintainers of Al-Masjid Al-Haram. Allah mentioned their arrogance and rejection (of the faith), saying to `the people of Al-Haram', who were idolators,

قَدْ كَانَتْ ءَايَـتِى تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَكُنتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِكُمْ تَنكِصُونَ - مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَـمِراً تَهْجُرُونَ

Verse 20 enlarges upon the subject initiated with the words: لَا يَسْتَوُونَ (la yastawun: they are not equal) in the previous verse (19) where it was said that the believing Mujahidin and those engaged only in maintaining the masjid and serving water to pilgrims are not equal. This was enlarged by saying: الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُ‌وا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ أَعْظَمُ دَرَ‌جَةً عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۚ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ ﴿20﴾ (those who believed and emigrated and took up jihad in the way of Allah, with their wealth and lives, are greater in rank in the sight of Allah, and they are the successful ones). The reason is that the Mushriks against them simply had no measure of success whatsoever. As for Muslims in general, they too shared this success in essence, but the success of those identified above had more to it. There-fore, they were the ones whose success was comprehensive.